February 23: So Far Away

Here’s a band I hope to make a regular feature, as surely as Billy Joel and Supertramp’s “Breakfast In America” will inevitably become despite my best efforts of self-restraint.

Dire Straits. Just think about the name for a second. OK, back now? When I first heard it in 1985, I had no clue what it meant (I was 6 or 7). But could there be a more perfect name for a rock band? 99.9% of people/groups who set out to make it in popular music never succeed.

But succeed Dire Straits did, and left a legacy of fantastic music to show for it. (But you’ll never see me blogging about “Romeo and Juliet”. Forget it.) Of course my introduction to the band was “Money For Nothing”, which I instantly recognized as catchy but had no worldly experience to realize what was being insinuated. Plus those computer graphics were really friggin sweet.

Around the same time the “Walk Of Life” video (American version) was getting heavy MTV airplay, and it was full of footage of the Dallas Cowboys, so automatic win. Again, I was too tender to realize that these follies were indicative of the ineptitude of my favorite football team, but the tune was catchy!

Years later, in high school, a girlfriend extolled the virtues of the band and I eye-rollingly agreed, expecting that I’d already heard their two best songs. (Insert “Romeo and Juliet” here.) Later still during college, I heard “Sultan of Swing” on the radio and tried to guess the band; my best guess was Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Learning the truth was an eye-opening experience.



And so we’ve ended up at this song, a gorgeous ode to the longing felt when a vital part of one’s life is missing. I’m sure it was written from the perspective of a touring rocker missing his significant other, but sanitize the lyrics a bit and it applies to the feeling that what you love most in life is missing, no matter what that may be.

And Dire Straits seriously owes some royalties to Carole King. 'Cause she wrote "So Far Away" first, and killed it. I guess Dire Straits deserves credit for writing a song of the same name that's just as good. (Well, almost as good.)